Keyword: unemployment

Social Grants Dismantle Structural Poverty, They Don't Create Dependency

Picture: Sharon Schneider/Flickr Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen - Do individuals spend their money better than families? This foundational question in the design of income support programmes for the poor has not been robustly debated. Instead, the strong and robust debates have historically focussed on the possibilities of the universal provision of state income support through a Basic Income Grant (BIG). During his inaugural State of the Nation address, President Jacob Zuma expressed ANC policy to mean that future expansion of the social grants...

Global Financial Crisis Fuels Worldwide Protests

The Real News Network (TRNN) reports that protests are on the increase as a result of economic hardship emanating from the global financial meltdown. TRNN reports that there is a growing consensus that global elites are not qualified to handle the world's problems, leading to massive demonstrations against elites. On 1 February 2009, government representatives and corporate executives returned from the  World Economic Forum in Davos. The Associated Press reported "The world's...

Seizing the Policy Moment: Making Social Security Work

Picture: khalilshah/Fickr Isobel Frye - South Africa has arguably one of the most extensive social security systems amongst developing countries. Currently just over 12 million people receive some form of social assistance grant, and in addition we have a number of social insurance schemes, including the Unemployment Insurance Fund and private pension and provident funds which together form a social security system. The main historical objective of social security is to secure people against vulnerability which arises as a...